The results are in...

The Ocean is important to all life, including yours. Join us. Welcome to the Ocean Portal – a unique, interactive online experience that inspires awareness, understanding, and stewardship of the world’s Ocean, developed by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History and more than 20 collaborating organizations. You are among the first wave of visitors to the Portal, an experience which we hope will empower you to shape and share your personal Ocean experiences, knowledge, and perspectives.

Oct 30, 2009

A great white shark in the waters of the coast of Guadelupe, Mexico.

Credit:

Caterina Gennaro/Marine Photobank

In September, during the Sant Ocean Hall's first anniversary celebration, the Ocean Portal Team hit the museum floor to tell visitors about the OP and get some early feedback. Let's face it, we spend a lot of time at our computers, so we were very excited to meet people face-to-face. We asked visitors to vote on which ocean creature they'd like to see featured next on the portal: Chinook salmon, great white sharks, vent worms, or moon jellies. For those who couldn’t visit us in person, we also opened the voting up on our Facebook fan page.

All the votes have been tallied, and the winner is...drum roll, please...the great white shark! With 46 total votes, this voracious predator gnawed its way to the top. Moon jellies came in second with 27 votes, followed by vent worms (24 votes) and Chinook salmon (7 votes). Dolphins made the strongest showing among write-in candidates with 11 votes. Thanks to everyone who voted, and keep your eye on the portal (and our Facebook page) for more on the great white shark!